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Monday, December 8, 2014

Opinions and Observations: The Lemieux-Rosado Card

Saturday's
middleweight fight between French Canadian David Lemieux and Philadelphian Gabe
Rosado produced a sublime fourth round that was easily one of the best three
minutes of boxing in 2014. Throughout the first three rounds, Lemieux was
getting the best of the action, landing thudding right hands and left hooks and
consistently backing up Rosado. In the third, Lemieux sent Rosado to the canvas
with two vicious left hooks. The fourth started out as more of the same, with
Lemieux pressing forward behind power shots. However, Rosado then decided to stand
his ground and fire, landing short, clipping counter right hands. These punches
made Lemieux reconsider his unfettered offense. Rosado took charge and moved
the action back to the center of the ring. As the round progressed, Lemieux
again reclaimed dominance with his heavy hands, only to eat a couple of solid
rights as the round closed. It was thrilling stuff and confirmed the promise of
this matchup when the fight was announced.

The
conventional wisdom going into Lemieux-Rosado was that Lemieux, the bigger
puncher, would be dangerous early but Rosado, if he could keep his wits about him,
could have some success in the later rounds. Lemieux had fallen apart in
2011 against Marco Antonio Rubio after leading early and was ineffectual in
dropping a decision to Joachim Alcine later that year. Those were the only two
fights against world-class opposition where he was pushed into the second half,
and he folded. However, Rosado had his own issues late in fights, mainly the
scar tissue above his left eyelid, which seemingly could open up from a strong
gust of wind, not to mention from the blows of a strong middleweight puncher.

One
part of the pre-fight narrative held up, which is that Rosado's eye didn't. By
the third round, his left eye was a mess and started to swell (after the
fight it was revealed that in addition to the cut he had suffered a broken orbital bone). With each
passing round the eye looked worse and worse. Before the eighth, ninth and tenth,
the doctors examined the eye and although Rosado was allowed to continue each
time, he was absorbing huge shots in the ring. As the 10th progressed, one of
the ring doctors ascended the ring apron and signaled to stop the fight.
Similar to his bout with middleweight killer Gennady Golovkin, Rosado ended
the fight on his feet but lost as a result of a good stoppage. Eventually, a fighter has to
be protected from himself and in my opinion the New York State Athletic
Commission acted appropriately in calling off the action.

But
the ultimate story of the fight was Lemieux's improvement. Although he
certainly was going for the knockout in the early rounds, he did a
much better job than he had previously in pacing himself throughout his attack
and not punching himself out. When the early stoppage didn't come, he didn't
get forlorn. He pressed on with imposing himself in the ring and winning
rounds. He survived some adversity in the fourth, kept his composure and
continued with the task at hand.

Significant
credit for Lemieux's performance must be given to trainer Marc Ramsay, who has
had success guiding the career of Jean Pascal, another fighter who can be
fragile and/or fade in fights. Lemieux never lost confidence on Saturday
despite taking some decent shots. The fighter was prepared physically and
mentally to go 12 rounds if needed.

Lemieux
is already in the second phase of his boxing career but it's worth remembering
that he's only 25, which is still just the early prime for most fighters. As a
point of comparison, Golovkin was fighting only eight-rounders in Germany at
the same age. I won't tell you that Lemieux will one day become a
pound-for-pound talent like Golovkin, but he still has room to grow.

Looking
through his early development opponents, there was a real dearth of crafty B-
and C-fighters to help him gain the valuable experience needed to box at the
championship level. He still has some technical flaws, mainly cocking his right
hand back to such an extreme that half of his body is left unprotected. He
leaves ample opportunities for jabs or lead left hooks to find their targets on
his right side. He is also very susceptible to a counter left uppercut. In
addition, Lemieux could further fill out his arsenal by using his jab
strategically (not just as a show punch) and incorporating some uppercuts into
his attack.

Nevertheless,
Lemieux has placed himself back into the middleweight conversation. With his
last two showings, he has now made an impressive statement on each U.S. boxing
network. His popularity in his home market of Montreal and his promotional
arrangement, which is removed from the HBO/Haymon/Top Rank cold war, should
leave him with plenty of options. Natural fights against Peter Quillin or
Jermain Taylor could occur next year. He still has some things to learn in the
gym but there's no reason why he couldn't have a title belt at this time next
year.

Rosado's
situation reminds me of the career of another Philadelphian, former Olympian and world champion
David Reid. Both fighters never reached their full potential in the ring
because of an uncooperative eye. Just over a year ago, Rosado was coming on
strong in a world title fight against Peter Quillin. That bout was also stopped
in the 10th because of his eye (ignore the scores, Rosado was getting the best
of the action when the match was halted). If Rosado's eye was 100%, he very
well could have been a middleweight titleholder.

However,
let's not blame Rosado's losses just on his eye.
There were multiple occasions on Saturday where he didn't follow his corner's
advice to get off first. He also failed to press Lemieux as actively as trainer
Jesse Reid would have liked him to. In the Quillin fight, he decided to engage
in a boxing match early in the fight when a ragged affair was what was needed
for that opponent. There were also some bad career moves mixed in, such as
dropping back down to junior middleweight to get outboxed by Jermell Charlo, an
absolutely horrible matchup for him that helped to deflate his stock.

At
his best, Rosado was an excellent TV fighter, one who was tough and won over
boxing fans and television executives with his gutsy ring performances. Sure,
if things broke better for him, he could have gotten a title belt and the opportunities afforded by such a trinket. However, that story isn't unique in
boxing; many have the potential to get to the top only to fall short. At least
for Rosado, he made his mark on boxing, just as boxing made its mark on his
eye. He had two world title fights and appeared on HBO or Showtime five times
(including a PPV undercard bout). Not too many 21-9 fighters can say that. So
he certainly had a spark in the ring and connected with audiences. That's an
impressive feat in it of itself.

In
a perfect world, Rosado will retire. He just doesn't have the physical health
needed to compete at the top level of the sport and his eye problems could very
well intensify with each passing fight. At 28, it seems awfully young to call
it a career but he has a young daughter whom he loves very dearly. Trade-offs
can really hurt.

***

The
most interesting fight of Saturday's card was the junior welterweight opener
between Thomas Dulorme and Hank Lundy. Similar to the main event, this was a
crossroads battle between a former hot prospect whose rapid ascent was derailed
(Dulorme) and a tough Philadelphian who hadn't been able to get over the hump
(Lundy). The final result of a Dulorme split decision win may not have been
surprising but round-by-round, this fight was pretty damn compelling.

From
the opening bell, Dulorme used distance and his reach advantage to land his jab
and right hand. Lundy, the smaller fighter, also decided to work off his jab.
Both had moments in the first but a looping right hand from Dulorme put Lundy
on the canvas at the end of the round; the fight's opening salvo was fired.

The
next few rounds featured a similar style clash, with Dulorme and Lundy boxing
from mid-range. Lundy got in some jabs and right hands while Dulorme featured the more consistent offensive output and
eye-catching power shots.

By
the fourth round, Lundy switched almost exclusively to southpaw and dispensed
with any notion of boxing. Defensively, he was in a better position as a lefty to neutralize
Dulorme's looping right hands and jabs. On offense, Lundy started to walk
Dulorme down. Firing wide left hands to the body, uppercuts and right hooks,
Lundy worked his way into the fight. By the sixth round, Dulorme was
visibly uncomfortable in the ring and started to lose his composure. He was throwing shots not
necessarily to win exchanges but to keep Lundy off of him; he was in
self-protection mode.

In
the seventh, Dulorme switched to southpaw himself. In that stance, he threw
meek right jabs and the occasional left cross. Although he wasn't getting the
better of the action, he made Lundy recalibrate. Instead of rummaging forward
recklessly, Lundy now was more hesitant with his offense. By the eighth round,
Lundy reemerged in a conventional stance and the fight reverted to the pattern
of the early rounds, where Dulorme, back as a right-hander, won with superior
boxing. (Even though the HBO broadcast crew bestowed plaudits on Lundy's
trainer, Barry Hunter, throughout the match, it's interesting to note that
Hunter didn't implore Lundy to remain as a southpaw in the fight's later
rounds, in my opinion a big tactical mistake).

Only
in the 10th and final round did Lundy return to southpaw and he had a big
closing frame. Dulorme looked unsteady on his feet and was more concerned with
surviving the final round that winning it.

It
was a close contest, with scores 97-92 and 96-93 for Dulorme and 96-93
for Lundy (I had it 96-93 Dulorme). In the end, the decision was
reasonable.

This
fight perfectly illustrated the relative strengths and weaknesses of each
boxer. Against an opponent who wanted to box, Dulorme could look quite strong.
He has impressive technique and understands distance very well. However, once
the match turned into a brawl, panic seemed to overcome him, much as it did in
his knockout loss to Luis Carlos Abregu in 2012. He lacked the weapons for
inside fighting and when under duress, his answer was to disengage in almost a
perpetual state of retreat. Switching to southpaw may have won Dulorme this
fight, but it wasn't as if he dominated the action as a lefty, such as
Terence Crawford does when he switches. Dulorme was able to survive on
Saturday, but again, he survived against Hank Lundy, not a top-five guy at 140
lbs.

Lundy
demonstrated that he is tough and has a tremendous amount of pride. He scrapped his unsuccessful "Plan A" and was able to find a style that worked. He had several rounds where he imposed his will on the bigger fighter. However, he
also showed that he could be out-thought and is capable of beating himself in the ring.
Lundy was flummoxed by Dulorme's move to southpaw. He essentially let Dulorme
gain the strategic advantage in rounds eight and nine by abandoning what was
working for him. In the 10th, he fought his heart out, but it was too late on
the scorecards.

Lundy's
losses don't paint a rosy picture of his ring intelligence. He was up big
against John Molina, got careless and was knocked out. He let a plodding and
methodical Ray Beltran outwork him and now he has been out-thought by Dulorme.
(He also did lose a spirited contest to Viktor Postol). Lundy's a high-level gatekeeper who can beat some guys on a good night but he's not disciplined
enough in the ring against top fighters. And he certainly doesn't have the type
of power that can erase mistakes.

Dulorme
barely passed his test this weekend and the fight showed that he most likely
won't be a serious player at 140 pounds. The top level of that division (like
Danny Garcia and Lucas Matthysse) would pick him apart with clean counters
and/or pressure. Even guys like Viktor Postol and Ruslan Provodnikov could have
their way with him. Maybe Dulorme could win a jabbing contest against Chris
Algieri, but again, we're not talking about a truly elite fighter here. Dulorme
will lose badly soon; it's just a question of which top junior welterweight
will have the honors of obtaining his scalp.

In
another undercard fight, middleweight prospect Hugo Centeno Jr. made a stunning
HBO debut, knocking out fringe contender James De la Rosa with a
beautiful straight left hand, sending him head first to the canvas. What made
the knockout even more impressive is that Centeno is a natural orthodox fighter
and scored the knockout out of a southpaw stance, displaying creativity,
dexterity and surprising power. Centeno also did good things in the opening
round of the fight, where he scored a sweet knockdown with a powerful jab, a
rare occurrence in the sport, but always a fun one.

The
crafty De La Rosa had some success with using angles and landing shots in close
range during rounds two, three and four. However, Centeno made an adjustment
that De la Rosa wasn't prepared for, and that was the fight. Centeno's
performance guarantees that he will find his way back on HBO or another premium
network very shortly.